2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

I had never before signed so many Non-Disclosure Agreements. It was mid-November at Nishiura Motor Park in Aichi, Japan, two months before the IS 350 F Sport’s debut at the North American International Auto Show. The security measures were warranted, as I would be the first non-Toyota employee in the world to see it. I would also be the first to drive it. As I swore my firstborn offspring to the Lords of Lexus, the stylish Junichi Furuyama, chief engineer for IS, walked into the room. Perfect timing.

After our introductions, we began the walk-around. “The emotion of the grille envelopes the car,” Furuyama said as he traced the striking nose. The latest Lexus models wear similar clips. This edition, however, adheres to an aggressive L-Finesse philosophy demonstrated by the brand’s recent concepts, the LF-CC and LF-LC, which means it’s visually loud and modern, but not necessarily gorgeous. All lines begin at the nose and taper as a boat’s hull does, Furuyama noted. He pointed to the distinct IS lateral hood creases, which rest higher than the muscular fenders. Lexus’ first independent LED daytime running lights further evolve L-Finesse. Gaping intakes and louvers feed air to the brakes and the 306-hp, 3.5-liter V-6. Non-F Sport models wear a milder variation of the bumper.

The 3-inch-longer wheelbase makes for a slimmer window profile nearly identical to that of the LF-CC. The sills’ dramatic cut leads directly into the LED taillights, again, as on the concepts. All IS backsides don a “duck-fin” spoiler, dual exhaust outlets, and lower diffuser. A hemming of the wheelwell flanges gives a flush look with the 18-inch wheels and Bridgestone Turanzas installed.

A gutterless topside is a result of new laser welding that fuses the roof with the doors. The change produces a cleaner appearance and benefits the 0.28 coefficient of drag. (The LFA has a Cd of 0.31.) The welding, along with a varying thickness of body panels and use of advanced adhesives, adds rigidity, and, unfortunately, weight. The rear-drive 350 bulks up by roughly 50 pounds over its equally powerful predecessor (3700 pounds versus 3650 pounds with 33 percent of options installed).

Furuyama smiled when describing the powertrain and suspension. Building a “fun to drive” sedan remained his main priority throughout the car’s three-year development, and it’s not surprising BMW‘s 3 Series was his benchmark. Handling benefits from GS F Sport-inspired items such as an electrically boosted Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS) system, 20 percent stiffer front anti-roll bars, and a multilink rear suspension with separately mounted springs and shocks, plus toe arms placed farther rearward. A Drive Mode Select (Snow, Eco, Normal, Sport, and Sport S+) alters damping of the Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS), steering heft, throttle response, and shift patterns of the paddle-activated eight-speed automatic gearbox. The transmission is the first from Lexus to use G-AI (G-force Artificial Intelligence) technology that shifts based on g-forces.

“The F Sport has an F Meter like that of the LFA,” Furuyama said as he opened the driver’s door. The digitized tachometer occupies a central ring and slides horizontally depending on the menu. “It’s like the LFA’s, but 1/10th the price!” he quipped.

When strapped into the F Sport’s bolstered seats, you feel as if you’ve donned a slim-fit suit. New leather, stitching, and high-grade plastics are all around. An analog clock and remote-touch navigation system reside on the double-tiered dash. Below these are Lexus’ first electrostatic climate control switches. Systems such as auto high beam, lane departure, and blind-spot warning, and rear cross-traffic alert fill the IS’ safety tech cache. The new multi-function steering wheel’s angle and driver’s hip point were reduced for performance feel and additional headroom. In all, it’s a beautiful environment.

On the tight circuit, the IS’ chassis demeanor and ultimate grip far exceed its predecessor’s. There’s minimal body roll in the stiffest Sport S+ mode, and it plows only when prodded extremely hard. Its wheels do, however, ricochet off imperfections, and however speedy and assured its solid chassis’ reactions are to the weightier VGRS inputs, there’s no ignoring its 3700-pound heft, nearly 200 pounds heavier than a Cadillac ATS 3.6.

Pinning the throttle instigates a delicious IS F-like grumble from the “sound optimized” exhaust above 4500 rpm. When left alone, upshifts in Sport S+ mode happen quickly at a 6600-rpm redline. The G-AI holds gears as designed during hard corner charges, but wringing out every bit of speed will necessitate a flapping of the paddles in Manual mode for sharper upshifts and rev-matched downshifts. Dial the Drive Mode Select back to Normal, and you’ll notice a quieter cabin and cushier ride.

This third-generation IS nails its fun to drive assignment. Its design is fresh (albeit controversial); its cabin technologically packed and roomy (you’ll easily fit a 6-foot 2-inch passenger in the back, and with the new 60/40 split rear seats, luggage will fit, too); and its chassis and powertrain are as buttoned-down as they come.

The most performance-minded enthusiasts may pine for a manual gearbox. Yet, this lack of a three-pedal option doesn’t negate the fact that the IS has enough grip, grunt, and gravitas to satisfy the sport-minded, luxury-loving masses, and quite possibly, outshine its German and Michigander adversaries.

And for that, consider Furuyama’s mission accomplished.

Furuyama Fosters Fun

Injecting a fun factor into an amenity-filled luxury sedan is tricky. To energize the Lexus IS 350 F Sport’s entertainment value, Junichi Furuyama employed some unorthodox development methods. Here’s his take on how it transpired:

“What is ‘fun to drive?’ That’s where we started. The development team had to understand the definition of fun to drive. It is very difficult to put into words, but when we test-drove fun to drive cars versus not fun to drive cars, the differences were obvious. We decided we needed to truly understand these differences and pit our car against competitor cars on our test track.

“At each corner, we analyzed steering feel, brake feel, and speed sensation compared with the rival cars. Overall, ours was not as fun to drive. Systematically, we broke down each corner by varying our driving techniques. For example, taking a certain corner at a certain speed is fun. By doing so, we began standardizing the definition of fun to drive. Along with our usual data collection, yaw rate, body roll, etc., we added a fun to drive value that was based on feeling rather than measurements. It was an unorthodox — but important — category in each step of our evaluations.

“One more thing: We prefer to test on public roads outside of our facilities. This is a practice we call “away.” During development, we cannot test domestically on public roads for security reasons. So, we bring the car away overseas to test at facilities such as Nuerburgring. The benefit is that the test drivers don’t fully know the courses and cannot predict every turn. How deep is the curve? Right or left turn? Testing outside our comfort zones is important as it adds psychological pressure on our test drivers. The result is similar to real-world data. Whether or not the driver can maintain control of the car under pressure is the ultimate test. We try to test away as much as possible.”

2014 Lexus IS350 News and Reviews

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